“Naxos’s attention to contemporary American fare continues with its new disc of concertos for mallet instruments, played with typical flair by the doyenne of female percussionists Dame Evelyn Glennie. Alexis Alrich’s Marimba Concerto, premiered by the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra in 2004, is fast becoming a repertoire item. Glennie and the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong gave the Asian premiere back in 2010, and here they are conducted by Jean Thorel in a textbook performance of an engaging work chock full of musical incident. Alrich’s tonal sound world is influenced by minimalism and French impressionism with echoes of Chinese traditional music and Indonesian Gamelan (she moved from the Bay Area to Hong Kong in 2007 for four years as the inaugural director of the John Adams Young Composers Program). The concerto manages to incorporate a set of variations, a waltz tune with harp accompaniment, Mexican folk in the slow movement, and an Asian-inspired chorale in the finale. Yet somehow it never feels piecemeal. Glennie is masterful throughout…Another distinguished issue, with warm, natural sound.”
— Clive Paget, Musical America, January 2021
“One of today’s most highly acclaimed percussionists, the UK born, Evelyn Glennie, is in demand around the world, this disc the result of her concerts in Hong Kong..
The Marimba Concerto by the American, Alexis Alrich, was premiered in 2004, its three movements being quite extended with a total playing time of almost thirty-three minutes, the conventional format containing a slow Lento surrounded by highly active music. In Marimba terms it calls for a performance of virtuosity, while for the listener it is highly attractive, with a tunefulness taking us back to the mid-twentieth century. The scoring takes into account the limited dynamic range of the instrument, and in that respect it is well served by the modest size of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong with the French conductor, Jean Thorel. Ned Rorem, now in his ninety-eighth year, composed the Mallet Concerto in 2003 to a commission from Glennie. As in her now familiar concert appearances, she is surrounded by the glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone and xylophone. In five sections, each having a descriptive title, the music moves between shimmering beauty and dramatic paragraphs all technically demanding, the end product being one of readily likeable and unusual timbres. Another commission for Glennie brings the disc to the Welsh-born Karl Jenkins, one of today’s most performed living composers. La Folia a taste of the music that brought him success, this time with the Baroque era as its starting point. An unusual and attractive release.” © 2021 David’s Review Corner